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F1 Saudi Arabian GP: Norris leads McLaren 1-2 as Tsunoda crashes for Red Bull in FP2

Lando Norris led Oscar Piastri for a McLaren 1-2 in second practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which was red flagged for a crash by Yuki Tsunoda.

The Red Bull driver planted his RB21 in the outside wall of the final corner with eight minutes remaining, spelling an early end to the session as there was only enough time for the usual practice starts when green conditions returned.

It was the only major incident of an otherwise smooth contest in which McLaren reasserted its dominance. Norris had edged out his team-mate Piastri on the ferocious 6.1km Jeddah street circuit as the Briton was aiming to bounce back from a tough Bahrain weekend.

After surprisingly ceding the top spot in first practice to Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Norris and Piastri never looked like anything but the fastest two cars around Jeddah, with Norris leading the early medium runs from his team-mate by just 0.001s.

After 15 minutes Ferrari's Charles Leclerc upped the ante with a 1m29.002s on mediums, while Tsunoda and soft-tyre runner Liam Lawson also circulated the top five.

As the frontrunners switched to softs, reigning world champion Max Verstappen briefly grabbed top spot with a 1m28.547s, but the Red Bull driver was quickly demoted by Piastri's 1m28.430s.

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images)

Norris responded in kind by beating Piastri's lap by 0.090s and then further finessing his best effort to a 1m28.267s on the same set.

Verstappen's second soft-tyre tour was better than his first but - 0.280s off Norris - still not enough to break up the McLaren hegemony at the front.

Leclerc was fourth, four tenths adrift, followed by Williams driver Carlos Sainz and the second Red Bull of Tsunoda, who was fourth tenths behind his illustrious team-mate before his crash. 

Russell, Gasly, a surprisingly quick Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and the second Williams of Alex Albon completed the top 10.

As often on the high-speed and blind twists on the Jeddah Corniche street circuit, traffic was a big factor, with both Verstappen and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton summoned to the stewards for allegedly impeding colleagues. Hamilton finished 13th after a low-key session.

Before Tsunoda's off, Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli clipped the wall coming out of the same corner, prompting a quick garage call.

Fellow rookie Gabriel Bortoleto did not take part in FP2, after his Sauber team discovered a fuel leak that could not be repaired in time.

F1 Saudi Arabian GP - FP2 results

   
1
 - 
4
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval Tyres km/h
1 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 4 McLaren Mercedes 21

1'28.267

  S 251.808
2 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 McLaren Mercedes 22

+0.163

1'28.430

0.163 S 251.344
3 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 Red Bull Red Bull 23

+0.280

1'28.547

0.117 S 251.012
4 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 Ferrari Ferrari 22

+0.482

1'28.749

0.202 S 250.441
5 Spain C. Sainz Williams 55 Williams Mercedes 24

+0.675

1'28.942

0.193 S 249.897
6 Japan Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing 22 Red Bull Red Bull 19

+0.696

1'28.963

0.021 S 249.838
7 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 Mercedes Mercedes 21

+0.706

1'28.973

0.010 S 249.810
8 France P. Gasly Alpine 10 Alpine Renault 22

+0.839

1'29.106

0.133 S 249.437
9 Germany N. Hulkenberg Sauber 27 Sauber Ferrari 21

+0.926

1'29.193

0.087 S 249.194
10 Thailand A. Albon Williams 23 Williams Mercedes 23

+0.953

1'29.220

0.027 S 249.119
11 Italy A. Antonelli Mercedes 12 Mercedes Mercedes 16

+0.975

1'29.242

0.022 S 249.057
12 France I. Hadjar RB 6 RB Honda 17

+1.039

1'29.306

0.064 S 248.879
13 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Ferrari 44 Ferrari Ferrari 23

+1.104

1'29.371

0.065 S 248.698
14 New Zealand L. Lawson RB 30 RB Honda 22

+1.221

1'29.488

0.117 S 248.372
15 Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 Aston Martin Mercedes 18

+1.395

1'29.662

0.174 S 247.890
16 United Kingdom O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87 Haas Ferrari 19

+1.487

1'29.754

0.092 S 247.636
17 Australia J. Doohan Alpine 7 Alpine Renault 21

+1.645

1'29.912

0.158 S 247.201
18 Canada L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 Aston Martin Mercedes 18

+1.740

1'30.007

0.095 S 246.940
19 France E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31 Haas Ferrari 22

+1.752

1'30.019

0.012 S 246.907
20 Brazil G. Bortoleto Sauber 5 Sauber Ferrari 0

 

     
In this article
Filip Cleeren
Formula 1
Lando Norris
McLaren
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